Knights’ Baseball sweeps Dean in doubleheader!

04.20.13

The CCRUI Knights baseball team hosted the Bulldogs of Dean College for a doubleheader on Saturday at Fell Field located on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick. The Knights defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 in nine innings (doubleheaders are seven innings in regulation) and 3-1. With the two victories the Knights improve to 24-9 overall and 7-3 in Region XXI play

Game 1CCRI- 2 Dean- 1 in nine innings (Seven innings regulation for doubleheaders)Once again, Knights’ pitching ace Conor Gleason (North Stonington, CT) turned in an outstanding performance as he held Dean to four hits and one run while striking out nine Bulldog batters. Closer Jay Ferri (North Kingstown, RI) came on in the top of the ninth inning to strike out two batters in a scoreless inning to pick up the win.

Offensively, Ryan Wordell (Little Compton, RI) spearheaded the late-game rally as he led-off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double off of the top of the fence in left center field, narrowly missing a homerun by mere inches. Jonathan Vasquez (Bridgeport, CT) followed Wordell with a sharp single to right moving pinch runner Pat O’Keefe (East Greenwich, RI) over to third base. Co-Captain Nick Coro (North Providence, RI) delivered the key hits with a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield, scoring O’Keefe for the walk off win. The win improved the Knights’ record to 23-9. Also helping the Knights’ offense was Tyler Santaniello (Lincoln, RI) who added two hits and drove in the first run for CCRI in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game.

Game 2CCRI- 3 Dean- 1Jake Tillman (Johnston, RI) pitched his second consecutive outstanding game as he gave up only one run over six and a third innings with three strikeouts to get the win. Once again, Closer Jay Ferri came on in seventh to shut the door with the bases loaded by striking out one and getting a grounder back to the mound to end the game to pick-up the save for the Knights.

Dylan Gracia (Middletown, RI) led the offense in game two by leading off the game in the bottom of the first inning with a single, stolen base, moved over to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan O’Dell (Lincoln, RI). Nick Coro led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single, was sacrificed over to second base on a bunt by Pat O’Keefe, and scored the go-ahead run on a double by Gracia. The Knights finished their offense in the bottom of the sixth inning on a leadoff single by Joe Yankee (Lincoln, RI), a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Wordell, and an RBI double by Jonathan Vasquez.

The sweep of Dean improves the Knights’ record to 24-9 and extends the winning streak to 14 games. The sweep of Dean also sets up a best-of-three Regional Championship with regional arch rival UConn-Avery Point the weekend of May 3rd through 5th, location to be determined after doubleheader with UConn-Avery Point this weekend. The Knights’ next game will be Tuesday the 23rd when they will host Eastern Connecticut State JV for a game at 4:00pm The Community College of Rhode Island, New England’s largest comprehensive community college, enrolls nearly 18,000 students in credit courses and thousands more in non-credit and job training classes. Its athletic program boasts 12 varsity programs and an academic support program for all student-athletes.